Intermediary device for establishing wireless services

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments are disclosed for facilitating reception of a digital audio stream over a wireless personal area network (PAN). At a wireless network mobile computing device, a wireless network audio broadcast device is discovered. The wireless network audio broadcast device is operable to provide a digital audio stream over a wireless PAN. The wireless network mobile computing device facilitates the reception of the digital audio stream over the wireless PAN by a wireless network audio listening device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/680,392, entitled “Public Audio Service,” filed Aug. 7, 2012, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Audio sources such as televisions and radios are provided in many publicor commercial spaces such as hotels, airports, restaurants, bars, etc.In some settings, the audio source sound is kept at a low volume, so asnot to disturb customers or patrons. In some settings, the sound is eventurned off. Users interested in watching the television programming, orlistening to the radio programming, must then move closer to the sourceor ask the proprietor or employee of the establishment to adjust thevolume.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system that supports wireless devicesaccording to some embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a messaging diagram showing interaction between variouscomponents of the system of FIG. 1, according to some embodimentsdisclosed herein.

FIG. 3 is another messaging diagram showing interaction between variouscomponents of the system of FIG. 1, according to some embodimentsdisclosed herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing interaction between variouscomponents of the system of FIG. 1, according to some embodimentsdisclosed herein.

FIGS. 5A and 5B each illustrate a user interface provided by the mobilewireless computing device of FIG. 1 according to some embodimentsdisclosed herein.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operation of the audio intermediarymodule of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of the audio intermediarymodule of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the mobile wireless computing device ofFIG. 1 according to some embodiments disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to audio programming such as thatprovided via radio or television, and more specifically to a servicethat facilitates consumption of such audio programming.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating a portion of a system 100 thatsupports wireless devices operating according to some embodimentsdisclosed herein. The system 100 includes multiple wireless devicesresiding within in a wireless personal area network (PAN) 105. WirelessPAN systems generally replace cumbersome cabling used to connectperipheral devices or mobile terminals by providing short distancewireless links that allow connectivity within very narrow spatial limits(typically, a 10-meter range). Various technologies can be used toimplement the components of the system 100 as should be appreciated. Anon-limiting list of technologies which can be used to implementwireless PAN 105 includes Bluetooth®, IEEE 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Zigbee,and Wireless Universal Serial Bus™. For some wireless PAN technologies,a wireless device registers with or joins a wireless PAN 105 beforetransmitting or receiving on the wireless PAN 105. Wireless devicesbecome known to one another through this registration process. However,some technologies also allow a wireless device to transmit or receivevia the network without registering or joining. As used herein,“transmitting over the wireless PAN” refers to transmission by awireless device that is located within range, or in the coverage zone107, of the wireless PAN 105, regardless of whether the transmitter hasbecome a member of the wireless PAN 105. Similarly, “receiving over thewireless PAN” refers to reception by a wireless device that is locatedwithin range of, or in the coverage zone of, the wireless PAN 105,regardless of whether the receiver has become a member of the wirelessPAN 105.

Wireless devices residing within the wireless PAN 105 may include, forexample, one or more wireless network audio broadcast devices 110, oneor more wireless network audio listening devices 115, and one or morewireless network mobile computing devices 120. A wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 outputs a digital audio stream over wireless PAN105 for consumption by a wireless network audio listening device 115.Using techniques described herein, an audio intermediary module 125within wireless network mobile computing device 120 acts as anintermediary to facilitate this consumption. For example, the audiointermediary module 125 may provide a mechanism for a user to select awireless network audio broadcast device 110. In some embodiments, theaudio intermediary module 125 forwards the selected digital audio streamto a wireless network audio listening device 115. In other embodiments,the audio intermediary module 125 provides identifying information sothat the wireless network audio listening device 115 can receive thedigital audio stream directly from the selected wireless network audiobroadcast devices 110.

The intermediary techniques disclosed herein can be particularlyadvantageous to wireless network audio listening devices 115 that arenot capable of receiving, or are not programmed to receive, broadcastsvia the wireless PAN. By having the wireless network mobile computingdevice 120 receive and forward broadcast audio streams, such legacylistening devices nonetheless benefit from digital audio broadcasts.Similarly, the intermediary techniques disclosed herein can beparticularly advantageous to wireless network audio listening devices115 that are not capable of exchanging, or are not programmed toexchange, capabilities information with a wireless network audiobroadcast device 110. Such legacy listening devices can nonethelessrender audio being broadcast by a wireless network audio broadcastdevice 110 once the wireless network mobile computing device 120receives identifying information from the wireless audio netowork audiobroadcast device 110 and provides that information to the legacylistening device 115.

A wireless network mobile computing device 120 may take the form of acellular telephone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a mediaplayer, a game station, or any other computing device that is mobile andsupports a wireless PAN connection. In the example shown in FIG. 1, thewireless network audio broadcast device 110-T takes the form of atelevision and the wireless network audio broadcast device 110-R takesthe form of a radio receiver but other sources of digital audio are alsoapplicable. In some embodiments, a wireless network audio broadcastdevice 110 receives programming on a media channel and outputs audioassociated with this programming. However, in other embodiments, awireless network audio broadcast device 110 plays back stored audio(e.g., a digital jukebox). In the example embodiment of FIG. 1, thewireless network audio listening device 115 takes the form ofheadphones, but the wireless network audio listening device 115 may makeother forms, such as a single-ear headset or speakers. As anotherexample, the wireless network audio listening device 115 make take theform of a hearing aid, using one of a variety of coupling technologiessuch as telecoil. A wireless network audio listening device 115 maysupport mono or stereo sound.

FIG. 2 is a messaging diagram showing interaction between variouscomponents of the system 100 in an example scenario, according to someembodiments disclosed herein. In this scenario, the audio intermediarymodule 125 within the wireless network mobile computing device 120(FIG. 1) discovers a wireless network audio broadcast device 110,receives a digital audio stream from the wireless network audiobroadcast device 110, sand forwards the digital audio stream on to thewireless network audio listening device 115. Another scenario will bediscussed later, in which the audio intermediary module 125 does not actas a forwarder, but instead provides the wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 and/or the wireless network audio listening device115 with information that allows the wireless network audio listeningdevice 115 to receive the digital audio stream directly from thewireless network audio broadcast device 110.

In the example scenario shown in FIG. 2, the wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 provides a broadcast digital audio stream 205independent of any particular request for the stream 205, andindependent of devices already connected to the wireless network audiobroadcast device 110. In some embodiments, any listening device maydiscover the broadcast digital audio stream 205 by listening to thewireless network audio broadcast device 110. In some embodiments, thewireless network audio broadcast device 110 transmits to a predefinedbroadcast address or set of broadcast addresses.

In some embodiments, the audio intermediary module 125 listens for thebroadcast digital audio stream 205. Having found at least one broadcastfrom at least one wireless network audio broadcast device 110, the audiointermediary module 125 sends a query message 210 to a wireless networkaudio broadcast device 110 in order to obtain an identifier and adescription of the device's capabilities. The wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 responds with a message 215, which includes therequested information. In some embodiments, wireless devices areidentified using frequency, time slot, clock, device address such as amedia access control (MAC) address, or a combination thereof.Furthermore, the capabilities returned in the message 215 may include adevice type, category, or supported profiles.

In some embodiments, query message 210 may be received by multiplewireless network audio broadcast devices 110, and then multipleresponses may received by audio intermediary module 125. The responses215 may serve to enable audio intermediary module 125 to discover theavailable broadcast digital audio streams 205 in lieu of listening forbroadcast digital audio streams for the purposes of discovery.

Once the broadcast digital audio stream 205 has been discovered via thecapabilities exchange of messages 210 and 215, the audio intermediarymodule 125 residing in the wireless network mobile computing device 120forwards the digital audio stream 205, as digital audio stream 225, tothe wireless network audio listening device 115. Whereas transmission ofthe digital audio stream 205 involves a broadcast by the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110, transmission of the digital audiostream 225 typically involves a connection between the audiointermediary module 125 of the wireless network mobile computing device120 and the wireless network audio listening device 115. In someembodiments, the wireless network audio broadcast device 110 is capableof providing multiple streams, and in such embodiments, a streamidentifier or a program identifier may be used by audio intermediarydevice 125 in order to identify and select the appropriate digital audiostream to forward to wireless network listening device 115.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, transmission of the digital audiostream 205 occurs prior to and independent of the capabilities exchange.In another embodiment, the wireless network audio broadcast device 110may automatically begin transmission of the digital audio stream 205after the capabilities exchange has occurred. In still anotherembodiment, the audio intermediary module 125 makes a specific request(not shown) to the wireless network audio broadcast device 110 to startthe transmission of the digital audio stream 205.

The message exchanges shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented in various waysdepending on the underlying technology, as may be appreciated. In aBluetooth® or IEEE 802.15.1 implementation, the capabilities exchange ofmessages 210, 215 may utilize extended inquiry, inquiry response, andextended inquiry response (EIR) and/or service discovery protocol (SDP)mechanisms. The inquiry, inquiry response and EIR mechanisms may furtherbe used to discover one or more available broadcast digital audiostreams in lieu of listening for broadcast digital audio streams for thepurpose of discovery. An inquiry response message may include the clock,device address, and Class of Device (e.g., TV, phone, personal computer,etc.). As another example, an extended inquiry response packet may adddevice name and other information such as the services supported by thewireless network audio broadcast device. In some embodiments, theservices supported may indicate support for the discovery, intermediary,and forwarding techniques disclosed herein. In embodiments that do notsupport an extended inquiry response, the capabilities exchange mayinvolve a partial connection between the audio intermediary module 125and the wireless network audio broadcast device 110 to discover deviceidentity and a full connection to discover device capability.

FIG. 3 is another messaging diagram showing interaction between variouscomponents of the system 100 in another example scenario, according tosome embodiments disclosed herein. In this scenario, the wirelessnetwork mobile computing device 120 (FIG. 1) does not act as a forwarderfor a digital audio stream, but instead provides the wireless networkaudio broadcast device 110 (FIG. 1) and/or the wireless network audiolistening device 115 (FIG. 1) with information that allows the wirelessnetwork audio listening device 115 to receive a digital audio streamdirectly from the wireless network audio broadcast device 110. Thedigital audio stream broadcast by the embodiment of FIG. 3 is similar tothat discussed above in connection with FIG. 2. That is, the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110 provides a broadcast digital audiostream 305 independent of any particular request for the stream 305, andindependent of devices already connected to the wireless network audiobroadcast device 110. In one embodiment, the audio intermediary module125 of the wireless network mobile computing device 120 listens asdescribed herein for the broadcast digital audio stream 305. Havingfound at least one broadcast, the audio intermediary module 125 learnsthe identifier of the audio broadcast device through the capabilitiesexchange of messages 310, 315, which are analogous to the messages 210,215 discussed earlier in connection with FIG. 2. In another embodiment,audio intermediary device 125 may discover one or more audio sourcedevices 110 using the same mechanism used to perform the capabilitiesexchange involving messages 310 and 315. Having discovered the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110 through messages 310, 315, the audiointermediary module 125 sends a message 320, which informs the wirelessnetwork audio listening device 115 of the presence of the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110. The message 320 includes sufficientinformation for the wireless network audio listening device 115 to beginreceiving the broadcast digital audio stream 305 being transmitted bywireless network audio broadcast device 110. In some embodiments, themessage 315 includes a network or MAC address, frequency, a time slot, aclock, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110 is capable of providing multiplestreams, and in such instances message 315 may include a program orstream identifier.

The scenario of FIG. 2 involved wireless network mobile computing device120 acting as an intermediate forwarding device. In contrast, thescenario of FIG. 3 involves wireless network audio listening device 115directly receiving the broadcast digital audio stream 305 from wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110. This typically would allows wirelessnetwork mobile computing device 120 containing audio intermediary module125 to not consume power as a result of receiving and retransmitting thedigital audio stream. However, the scenario of FIG. 3 does require thatwireless network audio listening device 115 be capable of directlyreceiving a broadcast digital audio stream. In some embodiments,wireless devices may take on master and slave roles. For example, thewireless network audio broadcast device 110 may act as a master whentransmitting the digital audio stream 325, while the wireless networkaudio listening device 115 receives as a slave. As another example, thewireless network mobile computing device 120 may simultaneously act as aslave to receive from the wireless network audio broadcast device 110and as a master to transmit to the wireless network audio listeningdevice 115.

As noted above in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3, the audio intermediarymodule 125 may act as a forwarding intermediary, or may facilitate adirect connection between the wireless network audio broadcast device110 and the wireless network audio listening device 115. Someembodiments of the audio intermediary module 125 support both behaviors,and dynamically select between the two based on operating conditions.For example, the audio intermediary module 125 may elect to operate as aforwarder when the wireless network audio broadcast device 110 is closerto the wireless network mobile computing device 120 than to the wirelessnetwork audio listening device 115. As another example, the audiointermediary module 125 may elect not to operate as a forwarder when thecharge on its battery drops below a predefined threshold. As yet anotherexample, the audio intermediary module 125 may elect not to operate as aforwarder when the wireless network audio broadcast device 110 and thewireless network audio listening device 115 are located on the samesubnet or piconet.

FIGS. 4A and 4B each illustrate interaction between various componentsof the system 100 in a capabilities gathering scenario, according tosome embodiments disclosed herein. In both scenarios, the audiointermediary module 125 gathers capabilities data from wireless devices405, some of which are wireless network audio broadcast devices 110(FIG. 1). The audio intermediary module 125 processes the capabilitiesto present the user with a choice of these wireless network audiobroadcast devices 110. In both scenarios, a wireless PAN 105 includesfive wireless devices 405 other than the wireless network mobilecomputing device 120: two televisions 405-T1 and 405-T2; a notebookcomputer 405-N; a game station 405-G; and a headset 405-H. In the twoscenarios illustrated in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, different wireless devices405 are queried.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A, the audio intermediary module125 exchanges capability messages 410 with all wireless devices 405residing in the wireless PAN 105, thus discovering the presence of fivewireless devices 405 residing in the wireless PAN 105. Audiointermediary module 125 then filters the capabilities information todiscover the presence of wireless network audio broadcast devices 110 ingeneral, of specific types of wireless network audio broadcast devices110, or of specific wireless network audio broadcast devices 110. Forexample, audio intermediary module 125 may look generally for a devicetype such as “audio source” or “audio broadcast,” or may look morespecifically for a device type of “television.” The audio intermediarymodule 125 then presents a list of the wireless network audio broadcastdevices 110 to the user via a display that is integrated with or coupledto the wireless network mobile computing device 120.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4B, the audio intermediary module125 exchanges capability messages 410 with only those wireless devices405 that are also operating as wireless network audio broadcast devices110. For example, the audio intermediary module 125 may send acapability query that is qualified by a device type such as “audiosource” or “television,” so that only the wireless network audiobroadcast device 405-T1 and the wireless network audio broadcast device405-T2 respond. In contrast, the embodiment of audio intermediary module125 shown in FIG. 4A sends a general capability query, so that thenotebook computer 405-N, the game station 405-G, and the headset 405-Halso respond. In some embodiments, the audio intermediary module 125further discovers which audio broadcast devices provide audioprogramming over the wireless PAN 105. That is, embodiments arecontemplated in which devices produce audio for local consumption, butare not capable of, or are not configured to, provide the audio to awireless network audio listening device 115 over the wireless PAN 105.

Regardless of whether the audio intermediary module 125 filters outdevices other than audio broadcasts or specifically targets devices, theaudio intermediary module 125 then presents a list of the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast devices 110 to the user via a display that isintegrated with or coupled to wireless network mobile computing device120. FIG. 5A illustrates an example user interface 500A presented by theaudio intermediary module 125 (FIG. 1), through which a list ofdiscovered wireless network audio broadcast devices 110 (FIG. 1) ispresented to a user of the wireless network mobile computing device 120(FIG. 1). While the term list is used herein, no particular arrangementsuch as a linear arrangement is implied. The list 505A corresponds tothe wireless network audio broadcast devices 110 discovered in thescenario of FIGS. 4A and 4B, and thus includes entries for thetelevision 405-T1 and the television 405-T2 (but not for the notebookcomputer 405-N and the game station 405-G). After the user makes aselection 510A of one of the wireless network audio broadcast devices110 on the list 505A, the audio intermediary module 125 begins listeningto a digital audio stream.

Entries in list 505A may include various types of information that mayaid the user in making a selection. For example, a list entry mayinclude information such as a name or description of the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110 (e.g., “Bar TV Left,” “Bar TVRight”). In embodiments in which the digital audio stream provided by awireless network audio broadcast device 110 is associated with a mediachannel or program, a list entry may also include a name or descriptionof the media channel or program (e.g., “NBC”, “Univision”).

FIG. 5B illustrates another example user interface 500B presented by theaudio intermediary module 125. User interface 500B presents not only alist 5008 of discovered wireless network audio broadcast devices 110(FIG. 1), but also information about the digital audio streamsassociated with each wireless network audio broadcast device 110. Inthis example, a single wireless network audio broadcast device 110 (“BarTV Left”) offers two different streams: “NBC” and “NBC Spanish.” Userinterface 500B allows the user to select, from a list 505B, a particularstream offered by a particular wireless network audio broadcast device110. After the user makes a selection 510B of a stream from list 505B,audio intermediary module 125 begins listening to the selected digitalaudio stream.

While some embodiments of the audio intermediary module 125 allow a userto choose from multiple wireless network audio broadcast devices 110,other embodiments may make a default choice without user intervention.For example, the audio intermediary module 125 may select the broadcastsource that is closest to the wireless network audio listening device115, or may select a broadcast source based on the type of device orprogramming (e.g., television preferred over radio, English languageprogramming preferred over Spanish language programming, etc.).

As described herein, the audio intermediary module 125 allows a user tochoose a wireless network audio broadcast device 110 for listening froma list of available broadcast sources. The audio intermediary module 125may also provide a mechanism which allows a user to select from amongmultiple wireless network audio listening devices 115. Such anembodiment may be useful in a scenario where two headsets are present inthe same room as the user, and he wishes to listen to a wireless networkaudio broadcast device 110 while in that room. Also, though notspecifically illustrated, the audio intermediary module 125 may alsoprovide a user interface or other mechanism for a user to stop ordisable the digital audio stream provided by a wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 to a wireless network audio listening device 115.

Notably, in some embodiments the transmission of a digital audio streamover a wireless PAN 105 by a wireless network audio broadcast device 110is independent of audio provided to a local consumer. That is, atelevision 110-T transmitting a stream to a wireless network audiolistening device 115 may or may not be reproducing that same streamusing speakers colocated with the television. A television 110-T may bereproducing a different stream instead, or may not be producing a streamat all, for example, if the sound is muted. Thus, a television 110-T maybe playing the audio associated with one TV program over local speakersand sending the sound for another TV program to a wireless network audiolistening device 115. Furthermore, a given wireless network audiobroadcast device 110 may support simultaneous transmission of multipledigital audio streams.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating operations of audio intermediarymodule 125 within the wireless network mobile computing device 120 (FIG.1), according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Alternatively, theflowchart of FIG. 6 may be viewed as implementing various steps of amethod to discover an audio broadcast source that is transmitting adigital audio stream and to facilitate reception of the audio stream byan audio listener, as performed by the wireless network mobile computingdevice 120.

At box 605, the audio intermediary module 125 discovers the wirelessnetwork audio broadcast devices 110 (FIG. 1) that are in the coveragezone of a wireless PAN 105. As noted above, in some scenarios the audiointermediary module 125 and/or the wireless network audio broadcastdevice 110 have not joined the wireless PAN 105. The audio intermediarymodule 125 may make this discovery through a general query of allwireless devices or a targeted query of wireless network audio broadcastdevices 110. The audio intermediary module 125 may further discoveradditional information from the wireless network audio broadcast devices110, such as which programs or streams are available from each wirelessnetwork audio broadcast device 110.

At box 610, the audio intermediary module 125 provides information aboutthe discovered wireless network audio broadcast devices 110 to a user ofthe wireless network mobile computing device 120. At box 615, the audiointermediary module 125 receives from the user a selection of aparticular wireless network audio broadcast device 110.

At box 620, the audio intermediary module 125 facilitates reception by awireless audio listening device 115 of a digital audio stream that isproduced by the selected wireless network audio broadcast device 110.The reception occurs over the wireless PAN 105 (FIG. 1). The process ofFIG. 6 is then complete.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operations of audio intermediarymodule 125 within the wireless network mobile computing device 120 (FIG.1), according to some embodiments disclosed herein. Alternatively, theflowchart of FIG. 7 may be viewed as implementing various steps of amethod to facilitate reception of digital audio stream by a wirelessaudio listening device 115, as performed by the wireless network mobilecomputing device 120.

At box 705, the audio intermediary module 125 listens for a digitalaudio stream that is broadcast over a wireless PAN 105. As noted above,in some scenarios the audio intermediary module 125 and/or broadcastingdevice have not joined the wireless PAN 105. The audio intermediarymodule 125 may listen on a predefined broadcast address or set ofbroadcast addresses. Next, at box 710, the audio intermediary module 125identifies the source of the received broadcast through a general queryof all wireless devices or a targeted query of wireless network audiobroadcast devices 110. The audio intermediary module 125 may furtherdiscover additional information from the wireless network audiobroadcast devices 110, such as which programs or streams are availablefrom each wireless network audio broadcast device 110.

At box 715, the audio intermediary module 125 provides information aboutthe discovered wireless network audio broadcast devices 110 to a user ofthe wireless network mobile computing device 120. At box 720, the audiointermediary module 125 receives from the user a selection of aparticular wireless network audio broadcast device 110.

At box 725, the audio intermediary module 125 facilitates reception byan audio listening device of a digital audio stream that is produced bythe selected wireless network audio broadcast device 110. The receptionoccurs over the wireless PAN 105 (FIG. 1). The process of FIG. 7 is thencomplete.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a wireless network mobile communicationdevice 120 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.The wireless network mobile computing device 120 of FIG. 8 includes anRF transceiver 805, an antenna 807, a processor 810, a memory 815, andvarious other components contained within a housing (not shown). In thisexample embodiment, the audio intermediary module 125 resides in thememory 815 and takes the form of instructions executed by the processor810. The personal area network (PAN) stack 820 also resides in thememory 815 and is executed by the processor 810. The audio intermediarymodule 125 may utilize the PAN stack 820 as may be appreciated.

The processor 810 may perform functions such as physical layerprocessing, link layer processing, and speech coding and decoding. Theprocessor 810 may be implemented as a baseband processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application processor, a microcontroller, anetwork processor, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, theprocessor 810, the memory 815, and/or the RF transceiver 805 may beintegrated on the same chip.

The processor 810 may also interact with the various other systems andcomponents in the wireless network mobile computing device 120, such asa display 825, a microphone 830, a speaker 835, a user input device 840,LEDs 845 and other components that might be incorporated into a mobiledevice. The user input device 840 can include a capacitive touchscreenthat is integrated within the display 825, a keypad, other buttons orswitches, or any other user input device as can be appreciated.

The wireless network mobile computing device 120 can also include abattery 850 or other power source that can provide power to the variouscomponents in the terminal. The wireless network mobile computing device120 can also include one or more Subscriber Identification Module (SIM)ports 855, a flash RAM 860, an SRAM 865, or other system resources. Thewireless network mobile computing device 120 can also include one, ormore ports 870, which can comprise a universal serial bus (USB) port andits variants (e.g., micro-USB, mini-USB, etc.), a proprietary port, orany other input/output ports that can provide for data operations aswell as power supply that can facilitate charging of the battery 850.

Any logic or application described herein (including the audiointermediary module 125) that comprises software or code can be embodiedin any transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium for use byor in connection with an instruction execution system such as, forexample, the processor 810. In this sense, the logic may comprise, forexample, statements including instructions and declarations that can befetched from the computer-readable medium and executed by the processor810. In the context of the present disclosure, a “computer-readablemedium” can be any medium that can contain, store, maintain, orpropagate the logic or application described herein for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system. The computer-readablemedium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example,magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of asuitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to,magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memorycards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, thecomputer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including,for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Inaddition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM),a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.

Although the audio intermediary module 125, the network stack 820, andother various components described herein may be embodied in software,firmware, or code executed by a processor as discussed above, as analternative the same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or acombination of software, general-purpose hardware, and dedicatedhardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can be implemented asa circuit or state machine that employs any one of or a combination of anumber of technologies. These technologies may include, but are notlimited to, discrete logic, a programmable logic device, an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array(FPGA), a system on chip (SoC), a system in package (SIP), or any otherhardware device having logic gates for implementing various logicfunctions upon an application of one or more data signals. Suchtechnologies are, generally well known by those skilled in the art and,consequently, are not described in detail herein.

The diagram of FIG. 8 shows the functionality and operation of animplementation of portions of the audio intermediary module 125. Ifembodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, orportion of code that comprises program instructions to implement thespecified logical function(s). The program instructions may be embodiedin the form of source code that comprises human-readable statementswritten in a programming language or machine code that comprisesnumerical instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system suchas the processor 810 in a computer system or other system. The machinecode may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied inhardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number ofinterconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the diagram of FIG. 7 shows a specific order of execution, itis understood that the order of execution may differ from that which isdepicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks maybe scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shownin succession in the diagram of FIG. 7 may be executed concurrently orwith partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more ofthe blocks shown in the diagram of FIG. 7 may be skipped or omitted. Inaddition, any number of counters, state variables, warning semaphores,or messages might be added to the logical flow described herein, forpurposes of enhanced utility, accounting, performance measurement, orproviding troubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all suchvariations are within the scope of the present disclosure. It isunderstood that the diagram of FIG. 7 merely provides an example of themany different types of functional arrangements that may be employed toimplement the operation of portion(s) of the audio intermediary module125 as described herein. As an alternative, the FIG. 7 may be viewed asdepicting an example of steps of a method implemented in the audiointermediary module 125 according to one or more embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

-   -   1-20. (canceled)

21. A device comprising: at least one processor circuit configured to:discover a first wireless device over a first wireless network, thefirst wireless device being configured to broadcast a wireless service;receive information for accessing the wireless service; and facilitatean exchange of the information between the first wireless device and asecond wireless device to directly connect the second wireless devicewith the first wireless device over a second wireless network for accessto the wireless service.
 22. The device of claim 21, wherein theinformation comprises an identifier associated with the first wirelessdevice for connecting to the first wireless device.
 23. The device ofclaim 22, wherein the at least one processor circuit is furtherconfigured to: transmit, to the second wireless device, the informationfor connecting to the first wireless device to access the wirelessservice.
 24. The device of claim 21, wherein the information comprisesan identifier associated with the second wireless device for connectingto the second wireless device.
 25. The device of claim 24, wherein theat least one processor circuit is further configured to: transmit, tothe first wireless device, the information for connecting to the secondwireless device to access the wireless service.
 26. The device of claim21, wherein one or more of the first wireless network or the secondwireless network is associated with a wireless personal area network.27. The device of claim 26, wherein the second wireless device is not amember of the wireless personal area network prior to connecting to thefirst wireless device to access the wireless service.
 28. The device aclaim 26, wherein the first wireless device is in a coverage zone of thewireless personal area network.
 29. The device of claim 26, wherein thefirst wireless device wirelessly broadcasts audio over the wirelesspersonal area network.
 30. The device of claim 26, wherein the wirelesspersonal area network comprises at least one of a Wi-Fi network or aBluetooth network.
 31. The device of claim 21, wherein the at least oneprocessor circuit is Rather configured to: receive the wireless servicefrom the first wireless device; establish a direct connection with thesecond wireless device; and forward the wireless service from the firstwireless device to the second wireless device.
 32. The device of claim21, wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:select between forwarding the wireless service from the first wirelessdevice to the second wireless device as an intermediary device orfacilitate a direct connection between the first wireless device and thesecond wireless device, based on operating conditions of the device. 33.The device of claim 32, wherein the at least one processor circuit isfurther configured to: elect to operate as the intermediary device byforwarding the wireless service from the first wireless device to thesecond wireless device when a first operating condition indicates thatthe first wireless device is more proximate to the device than to thesecond wireless device.
 34. The device of claim 32, wherein the at leastone processor circuit is further configured to: elect not to operate asthe intermediary device when a second operating condition indicates thata power consumption level of the device is lesser than a predefinedthreshold.
 35. The device of claim 21, wherein the at least oneprocessor circuit is further configured to: listen for wireless deviceson the first wireless network, wherein the first wireless device isdiscovered using a message exchange with the first wireless device;establish a direct connection with the first wireless device; andobtain, over the direct connection, from the first wireless device, theinformation for connecting to the first wireless device.
 36. A methodcomprising: discovering, by an intermediary device, a first device overa first network, the first device being configured to broadcast aservice; receiving, by the intermediary device, information foraccessing the service; and facilitating, by the intermediary device, anexchange of the information between the first device and a second deviceto directly connect the second device with the first device over asecond network for access to the service.
 37. The method of claim 36,wherein the information comprises an identifier associated with thefirst device for connecting to the first device, further comprising:transmitting, to the second device, the information for connecting thesecond device with the first device to access the service.
 38. Themethod of claim 36, wherein the information comprises an identifierassociated with the second device for connecting to the second device,further comprising: transmitting, to the first device, the informationfor connecting the first device with the second device to access theservice.
 39. The method of claim 36, further comprising: selectingbetween forwarding the service from the first device to the seconddevice as an intermediary device or facilitate a direct connectionbetween the first device and the second device, based on operatingconditions of the device.
 40. A computer program product comprisinginstructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, the instructions comprising: instructions to discover, by anintermediary device, a first device over a first network, the firstdevice being configured to broadcast data on a wireless personal areanetwork to a plurality of devices; instructions to identify, by theintermediary device, information for receiving at least a portion of thedata directly from the first device; and instructions to facilitate, bythe intermediary device, an exchange of the information between thefirst device and a second device to directly connect the second devicewith the first device over a second network for receiving the at leastthe portion of the data directly from the first device.